“She’s not a rogue,” Jesse said. “She can control her tiger, and she can change back on her own. I’ve seen her.”
Brezit raised his eyebrows. “She was unable to do so yesterday.”
“I’m not surprised.” Jesse stepped toward Nash again. “What did you do to her this time? Threaten her? Drug her? Torture her until her tiger went crazy?”
Nash’s eyes narrowed. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” Jesse turned to Brezit. “Was he alone with her before you saw her? Because this isn’t the first time he’s locked her in a cage. He’s no better than Alexander Grant.”
Nash said, “I tried to help her. To teach her to control her changes.”
“You abused her,” Jesse snarled. He said to the Council members, “He found out her tiger genes were expressing themselves when she was six years old. Six! He kept it from everyone.”
“I wanted to protect her,” Nash protested.
“You wanted to use her. He locked her in a cage, and he tortured her over and over until she panic changed. He turned her rogue. He made her kill for him, for God’s sake.”
“He’s crazy,” Nash said. “Makin’ up lies.”
Jesse grabbed Nash’s cane off the ground and hit the trigger. The taser sparked. “He used this to keep her in line. That, and the threat of outing her if she wouldn’t do exactly what he wanted.”
He tossed the cane aside and rounded on Nash. “And now that you know her secret’s out, now that you know you have nothing to hold over her head, you have to get rid of her. Nice touch, getting the Council to do your dirty work.”
“Do you have proof of this?”
That was one of the Shifter Council, a tall man with red hair and a beard, and a yellow robe.
“Just her word,” he said. “But when she wakes up and changes back, you can ask her yourselves. Now, as her promised mate, I’m asserting my rights and getting her out of that damn cage.”
They all started objecting at once. Nash raised his voice above the rest.
“He ain’t even her mate. That Enforcer fellow is.”
Kane stepped forward as the noise died down. “I hereby void the mating contract and relinquish my rights and responsibilities on behalf of Sophia Jenkins,” he said. He glanced at Jesse. “I hope to hell you can get her out of this mess.”
Sophia woke up in tiger form, feeling groggy. She had blurred memories of what had happened. The tranquilizers. Nash. Him giving her a shot before shocking her into a fury with his cane.
Damn the man. He’d drugged her. Her tiger wanted to throw herself at the cage door, but Sophia refused. She had to think. Last time Nash’s guards heard her and brought more drugs. She had to be quiet. Stealthy.
Jesse. What would Jesse do?
Get out of the cage. Be smart. She looked at the cage door. It was held shut with two huge steel bolts, top and bottom. No lock. Rogue animals didn’t need locks.
The cage walls were reinforced chain link, with four-inch holes. Too big for a paw to get through. But hands could.
She could have hands.
The minute she had that thought, Sophia remembered how to shift. She changed to human, and reached through the mesh to slide the heavy bolts.
Then she simply walked out of the cage.
It had never occurred to Nash, in his arrogance, that she’d shift back on her own. He’d been so sure of his power over her.
Those days were over.
She knew he had guards at both entrances, but they didn’t matter. Not now that she had control of her tiger.
She climbed to the hayloft and moved to the end of the barn. There was a shuttered opening in the side wall, where hay could be thrown straight down onto a wagon below.
It was only about twenty feet to the ground. She opened the shutter, shifted to tiger, and jumped. Her shock-absorbing paws hit the ground in near-silence, and she slunk off into the high grass beyond the barn.
Nash Jenkins was about to get a big surprise.
She tracked him to the garden. There was a knot of people, gathered around Nash and…Jesse!
Her heart lifted when she saw him facing down Nash. He was fighting for her, like he always did. But she wasn’t going to let him fight alone.
She walked up to the back of the crowd. Charlaine saw her and screamed, and people started scrambling out of her way.
“Somebody get a trank gun!”
“Call security!”
“No weapons,” Jesse called. His authority reached everyone in the crowd, and they went still.
“You’re fine, Soph,” he said. “Come on up here by me.”
Eyes on him, she walked through the crowd, who pressed themselves away from her. Nash backed up as she came near him, and she stopped, turning her head and giving him a baleful green stare.
“Don’t worry about him,” Jesse said.
Easy for him to say. Sophia wanted to rake her claws across his smug face.
She walked up to him and rubbed her face against his thigh. She wanted everyone to see she wasn’t dangerous. He put a hand on her head. “How you doing, Babe?” he asked.
In answer, she started purring. Then, just for fun, she rolled over on her side and put her paws in the air, batting playfully at him.
He crouched down next to her. “Don’t overdo it,” he murmured.
She scrambled to her feet and prepared to change. She had some things to say to the Council, and to Nash Jenkins.
Jesse put a hand on her neck. “Let me get you some clothes before you change back,” he said. He looked around the circle. “Somebody get me a shirt for her.”
Jace stepped forward, bless him. He grinned at Jesse. “I told you, you should have worn one.”
He made to take his off, but Kane stopped him. “Mine’s bigger,” he said. He stripped off his t-shirt and handed it to Jesse.
Sophia looked at him in shock. Why on earth would he want to help her? He looked back at her and gave her a little shrug, and then moved back into the crowd.
Huh. Maybe he wouldn’t have been such a bad mate after all.
Sophia tucked her tiger back inside, and morphed into her human form. There were murmurs of amazement all around the circle of onlookers. She stood up, and Jesse handed her the shirt. It came down to mid-thigh, so at least she was mostly covered.
But it didn’t matter. She’d been hiding way too much for too long.
She faced the Council. “I have something to say.”
“Now just wait a minute,” Nash said. “She’s a female, and—”
Jesse stepped forward to speak, but she put a hand on his arm. “And that’s the problem,” she said.
She faced the Council. “There are fewer female wolves than males. And because of that, too many of us are treated like property. Like commodities. Mating contracts, arranged alliances, trades for power and money and territory.
“And this is what it breeds.” She waved her hand to encompass Nash’s estate. “Forty years of Nash Jenkins trading his daughters for money and power. And for me, it meant eighteen years of torment and intimidation.”
She looked the Councilmen in the eye, one by one. “Imagine being a helpless little girl, being drugged and tasered and terrified into panic shifts. Imagine being threatened with exposure and death if you ever told anyone what was happening. Imagine being used against the man you love, coerced into betraying him under those same threats.”
She stepped forward. “And you let him get away with it. You uphold these archaic laws where women are supposed to sit down and keep quiet and let corrupt alphas use them however they want. A culture where the strongest still rules. Not the best. Not the one who cares the most. Just the one who can beat everyone else into submission.”
She looked at Jace. “I know that all packs aren’t like that. But too many are. And it’s time to break the silence. For those of us who are abused by our own people to speak out and put a stop to it, once and for all.”
“I ch
allenge Nash Jenkins. I challenge him for my freedom.”
Chapter 25
Holy shit. Jesse didn’t know whether to cheer or freak out. Sophia was so magnificent, standing straight and proud, her inner self finally shining through.
But he was her mate. He was supposed to fight for her. He struggled between wanting to support her, and wanting to protect her.
He knew she could take Nash Jenkins, as a tiger. Hell, maybe even as a wolf, if she were pissed off enough. But would the Council allow her to fight as a tiger?
Would they allow her to fight him at all?
Councilor Brezit gazed at the Shifter Council representative.
The red-haired man said, “This appears to be a wolf pack matter. I will leave it in your hands.” He bowed and stepped back.
Councilor Brezit turned his impassive gaze back to Sophia. “That was a very moving speech, Miss Jenkins,” he said. “And there were some points raised which the Council may take under advisement.”
Jesse growled. Under advisement? Was he serious?
“Unfortunately,” Brezit continued, “under our current laws—however distasteful you may find them to be—a female may not challenge the alpha of her pack, nor fight for her own emancipation.”
Nash looked smug. Jesse could see the wheels turning in his evil little brain, trying to figure out how to get himself out of this situation.
“However,” Brezit went on, “her mate—or a wolf who wishes to be her mate—may challenge on her behalf.” He turned his gaze to Jesse. His eyes were a disturbing light blue, and they seemed to pierce right through him.
Unbelievable. After all that, they were really going to turn her into a prize? These laws sucked. He was going to have turn his Negotiator skills to fixing that—after he kicked the shit out of Nash Jenkins.
Nash stepped forward. “Come on, boy,” he said softly. “I’ve been alpha for forty-two years. I’ve put down a couple hundred pups just like you. Most of ‘em bigger and tougher.”
He looked Jesse up and down. “Shouldn’t take me but a minute or two to put you in your place, and make sure my little girl gets what she deserves.”
All of the Silverlake wolves growled at that. Jesse was pretty sure even Emma was growling. But then, Emma was a wolf in spirit, if not in her DNA.
“I’ll take you on, old man,” Jesse said.
“Jesse, you’re in no shape for a fight,” Jace said. “You have broken ribs.”
Was he kidding? He really thought Jesse would just back down and let Nash do whatever he wanted to Sophia?
Jesse turned to Sophia. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’d like to see you take him down yourself. But it looks like this is our only choice right now.” He went down on one knee, holding her hand. “Sophia Jenkins,” he said, “Will you let me fight for you?”
Sophia gazed into his eyes. “Yes,” she said. He rose to his feet, feeling a surge of pride rush through him at the faith in her eyes. She tilted her head and whispered in his ear, “I choose you, Jesse Travis. I want you to be my mate.” And she kissed him.
Something expanded in his chest, and he felt another surge of energy, even stronger. It washed through his wounded leg and his cracked ribs, accelerating his healing.
Damn. Was that the mating bond? It was even more amazing than he’d imagined. He felt connected to Sophia, as if some of her strength had transferred to him.
“Jesse, are you sure?” Jace asked.
Brezit looked from Jace to Jesse, to Nash. “In light of Mr. Travis’s injuries,” he said, “this challenge can be deferred—”
“No deferral,” Jesse said. He wanted this settled here and now.
“Well, now, I wouldn’t want it to be an unfair fight,” Nash said. “Him being wounded and all. I’m willing to settle for a dominance challenge.”
A murmur went through the crowd. A dominance challenge was a non-physical test of alpha prowess. One alpha used his power and energy to force the other to submit. If the defender resisted for a set time, he won the challenge.
“Jesse,” Sophia murmured. “Nash hasn’t lost a dominance challenge since he was a cub. Not ever.”
Jesse cupped his hand around her neck and kissed her. “Then a new era is beginning in Nashville.”
He stepped forward. “I accept the dominance challenge.”
“Agreed,” Brezit said. “As the challenged party, Mr. Jenkins may choose whether to dominate or defend.”
“Dominate,” Nash said, almost before the guy had finished talking. Of course he’d pick dominate. He paced slowly, staring at Jesse. “I’ll have you on your knees in less than five minutes, boy.”
Brezit said, with a touch of irony in his voice, “In case you happen to be incorrect, the challenge will last for the regulation fifteen minutes. Will someone produce a timepiece, please?”
One of the other Council members handed him a gold watch. Brezit nodded, then said, “Contestants, take your places.”
Jesse didn’t move, but pushed Sophia gently away from him. “Go ahead,” he murmured. She walked reluctantly to the side of the circle. Jace and Rafe stepped up beside her, flanking her.
A crowd had gathered, as more and more of the wolves who lived in the compound heard about the conflict and came to support their alpha. Jesse could feel them, tense and anxious, though many of them had no love for Nash.
Jesse didn’t have his whole pack here, but he had the love of those who were. Jace and Rafe and Terin and Emma. Even Kane, though he certainly didn’t love Jesse, was mentally supporting him. Jesse was an integral part of Kane’s pack, and however much he denied liking any of his pack mates, Jesse had realized what Kane had told him was true. The pack was everything to him.
And more than that, Jesse had Sophia. He could feel their bond in the air between them, a tangible current of energy.
She made him strong. They all did. He’d never realized before how much he relied on their strength, and how right it was to do that. How important. How necessary.
Brezit’s voice cut through the silent tension in the crowd.
“Begin.”
Jesse expected a sudden onslaught of dominance from Nash. Instead he got a slow build, almost insidious. “Submit to me, boy,” Nash said, pacing slowly in front of him and staring him in the eyes. “You might as well do it now, and save yourself a world of pain.”
Jesse stood firm. He could feel Nash’s personality pressing on him, the will that had held his pack by force and cruelty for forty-two years.
He sensed the current of Nash’s energy. Warm and humid like a Tennessee summer—heat that would blanket you and smother you until you couldn’t breathe. Poisonous like the snakes hiding in the hollows; heavy and relentless.
He turned the current back on itself, cooling it with thoughts of the cold freedom of winter on Silverlake Mountain. Nash’s eyes widened, but he pressed harder.
“Submit,” he commanded.
Jesse felt his knees tremble. The weight of Nash’s dominance was like a boulder lying on his shoulders, getting heavier all the time. It was pressing down on him, pressing until his knees would buckle and he would kneel at Nash’s feet, neck bared.
As if.
Jesse locked his knees. He could feel Sophia’s eyes on him, her strength and faith shoring him up. He could feel his pack brothers supporting him. He hung on.
It seemed like hours. Nash’s eyes bored into his, relentless. The word seemed to be in Jesse’s head now, pounding at him. Submit. Submit. Submit.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
Brezit’s dispassionate voice said, “Five minutes. Ten more remaining.”
Only five minutes? Fuck this. There was no way Jesse was going to stand here for ten more eternal minutes. There had to be a way to end this.
Sophia’s voice reverberated in his mind. A memory? Or their mating bond? He didn’t know.
You took a group of traumatized, batshit crazy shifters—at least half of them dominants—and turned them into a freakin’ pack with the power of
your personality.
The rules of the contest said that he had to keep from submitting to Nash for fifteen minutes.
They didn’t say he couldn’t fight back.
Jesse reached out to Sophia in his mind—reached out to his pack. He was going to need the strength of all his bonds to pull this one off.
Jesse summoned the sense of authority he’d found in the cells of Alexander Grant’s bunker. If he could do it then, with death looming, he could sure as hell do it now, in a damn garden full of roses.
Nash’s voice pressed down on him like a mountain. SUBMIT!
Fuck you, Jesse sent back. How about YOU submit?
He lashed out in his mind with his gathered power. On your knees, asshole. We’re done here.
He felt the power rush through him and hit Nash. The old alpha’s eyes widened in shock.
Jesse took a step forward. You’re nothing but a cruel, narcissistic bastard who doesn’t care who he hurts to get what he wants. He felt Nash fighting him, but he didn’t care. This bastard was going to pay for all the things he’d done.
Jesse took another step forward. You use women like objects and treat them like trash. You’d sell your own daughter for a parcel of land, and turn her into a monster for your own ends.
Nash was beginning to look panicked. Jesse moved in another step.
On your knees, bastard!
He blasted Nash with his mind. All the years of feeling less than, of feeling ashamed. All the rage and pain and humiliation. And all the anger at the wasted power, that he’d been afraid to use. It all poured out of him, and the other man’s knees buckled. Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Nash was still fighting him, though. He was on one knee, struggling to get up. Jesse could feel the strain in him, in his mind and in his body.
The refusal to submit that had kept him alpha for forty-two years.
Submit, Jesse said. Submit, and I’ll let you live. I’ll let the Council decide your fate.
“Never,” Nash gasped.
Jesse pressed harder. If he let up now, he knew Nash would kill him. Nash wouldn’t care about the rules. It would be the only way to regain his pack’s respect.
Tiger Mate (Silverlake Shifters Book 3) Page 16
